Their Rules for Love
Rhett and Akins share their hard-won insights about maintaining a happy marriage
• Ride the Waves The pair hit a rough patch shortly after Ada James was born. “He kept touring and my life did a total U-turn with our children,” Akins tells Us. “It felt like we weren’t running the race together anymore. We were both like, ‘This ship is sinking.’” They turned to their support system and got counseling. “It was hard, but
because of that valley, our marriage is in a very different place.”
• Know When to Get Help Marriage therapy has been a game changer for the pair. “We are huge advocates of counseling,” Akins tells Us. “Even when we’re in a good
space, it’s always good to get a pulse [and see] where we’re at.”
• Talk Through Big Decisions Rhett and Akins discuss work commitments before signing on. “We sit down and say, ‘Is this worth it? Is this going to be good for our family?’ The transparency’s there, so when you walk out the door, everybody knows why,” explains Rhett, adding, “It’s good for [our] kids to watch mom and dad walk through
something together.”
• Be Intentional Quality over quantity: Akins breaks out the family calendar to block out time for her and Rhett to get some one-on-one time so they can “be alone and do
things that fill our marriage cup.”
• Keep Your Sense of Humor Akins pokes fun at Rhett’s tendency to cry at everything. “I joke with him all the time, saying, ‘Oh honey, here’s another coffee
commercial. Get ready!’”
• Put Your Partner First After Lillie was born, Akins suffered from postpartum depression. “It would’ve been easy to be selfish and say, ‘Hey, what about me? What about my needs?’” explains Rhett. “But when you serve others with the right intention, you don’t expect anything back.”